2 form 10 Shell Cos, Siphon Off Rs 11.79 cr in GST Fraud
Officials said the gang cheated the government of `11,79,76,284, by claiming a fake turnover of `53.73 crore and 405 fabricated e-waybills across eight states.
Hyderabad:Two persons were arrested for a multi-crore fraud, creating 10 non-existent GST-registered firms, operating them using forged documents and manipulating government systems to illegally claim input tax credit (ITC). Officials said the gang cheated the government of `11,79,76,284, by claiming a fake turnover of `53.73 crore and 405 fabricated e-waybills across eight states.
According to a press release by the Cyberabad economic offences wing (EOW) police, the arrested accused were identified as Sohil Muradali Lakhani, 34, from Abids, a native of Bhavnagar, Gujarat, the organiser and financial handler; and Mohd Akram Hasnuddin, 43, resident of Ramnagar, Adikmet, the middleman and courier for forged documents.
Three other accused — Abdullah, the mastermind from Delhi, Syed Mujtaba Hussaini alias Azam, technical expert, and Ayiti Raja Shekar, technical operator — are absconding, police said.
Police said the gang relied on forged Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, electricity bills, rental agreements, GHMC licences and labour department certificates to create fictitious identities. Using these, they procured SIM cards in fake names, completed OTP-based verification on the GST portal, and obtained GST registrations for firms that did not physically exist at any address.
Police said the absconding mastermind Abdullah, along with technical handlers, created the shell companies and generated bogus purchase and sale invoices to show fake business turnover. They passed on fraudulent ITC claims without any actual movement of goods. The gang also generated fake e-waybills using real vehicle numbers but with tampered chassis details.
The network operated across Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Gujarat, and was linked to 52 firms in total, including the ten fake GST registrations. A case was registered under relevant sections of the BNS. Further investigation is underway.
